


i can't be the only one who hears you

by orphan_account



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: M/M, a little bitch !, macdennis is mostly implied its just dennis being moody in nd, the gang r happy.... dennis is... dare i say it?, this is just something i found in my notes, this was written before s13 !
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 13:07:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17581436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "Every time he closes his eyes he sees it. He sees them."This is just something I found in my notes! Not sure about continuing but I thought I'd post anyway :-)





	i can't be the only one who hears you

Dennis can't escape the bar.

 

It's been months now since he left for North Dakota. Or, it feels like it. Days trip and stumble by and Dennis doesn't know where he's landing.

 

Every time he closes his eyes he sees it. He sees them.

 

The worn in wood of the bar where he used to rest his drink. The lack of coasters had always left overlapping circles into the swirling grain, something that he used to lazily trace with his fingers when he was tipping on the verge of drunk.

 

He sees the curve of the beer bottles behind the bar, shining in the dimly lit amber lights. He sees Dee standing in front of them, half of her lips tipped upwards into a smug grin as she idly cleans a shot glass. He sees Charlie and Frank, both leaning into each other where they congregate at the corner of the bar, closest to the door.

 

And he sees Mac. Whiskey eyed Mac who leans eagerly into the conversation.

 

They're all happy in his mind, despite his absence. He can never make out quite what they're saying, but they're smiling- laughing. It's blurry at the edges, like an old photograph; one that he's been cut out of.

 

He hates that they look happy. They should be thin lipped, at a loss of things to do when Dennis isn't there to lead them but instead they look.. Brighter. At peace. They no longer spit insults at each other, but instead encourage the each other with kindness.

 

Dee even says something about an upcoming audition and Charlie replies with "good luck".

 

Good luck?

 

Dennis doesn't recognise everyone like this. Why aren't they berating each other? Why is Charlie encouraging Dee? The Charlie he knew wouldn't have even bothered to dignify Dees misguided hope with an answer. Mac would've called her a bird, which would've caused Frank and Charlie to fall into fits of laughter, and Dee. Well, Dee would take it but mutter something under the line of "dicks" under her breath.

 

But no, without him.. They're doing... Well.

 

Well.

 

Well is a concept that Dennis isn't familiar with. Not anymore. Not in this cold.

 

Mandy is.. Mandy. She gives Dennis this look all the time that makes him feel like an abandoned toy. She clearly pities him; her eyebrows are always furrowed when he sees her looking. She presses her fingers lightly to his shoulder sometimes and asks how "they" are. Asks how "he" is.

 

He shrugs non-committedly. He says that they're fine. He hasn't actually asked and from the small flicker of Mandy's lip curving downwards, she can tell.

 

Dennis doesn't care. He really doesn't.

 

Dimly lit. A hand resting on his shoulder. The gangs laughter and the clinking of glasses.

 

"Dennis?"

 

He blinks. Mandy is stood opposite the breakfast counter where he's silently been nursing a lukewarm beer for an hour now. The kid is asleep, body cocooned by pillows and blankets on the sofa where he fell asleep to some shitty kids programme. The room is dark, and Mandy frowns.

 

"Dennis. You should leave." She says, voice concerned. Dennis furrows his eyebrows.

 

"Leave?" He scoffs. "Why would I leave? I live here. With you," he pauses, head turning to flicker over the kid. Brian Jr. "and him."

 

"You don't though Dennis," she says, all soft eyes and tentative touches. "You really should go back- to the bar I mean. You clearly don't like it here."

 

Mandy is everything the gang is not. Mandy is caring, quiet. She has no ulterior motives. Dennis doesn't know why she's saying this.

 

"Don't you want me here?" He asks, fingers picking at the beer bottle label.

 

"It's not that Dennis, you know that I want you here for Brian Jr. But.." she pauses, brushing her hair back. "I can tell you hate it. You're not hard to read, Dennis Reynolds."

 

Dennis wants to scoff. He wants to tell her that his mind is an impenetrable fortress, and that there's no way she could've spotted any cracks where any feelings he had could've slowly leaked out... But he knows. He knows he hasn't been trying hard enough to cover up the bags under his eyes and the sinking frown lines in his forehead.

 

He doesn't say anything. Mandy doesn't either. They're silent until-

 

His phone.

 

Dennis knows who it is already. It buzzes in a familiar sense against the counter. It's Mac. Of course it's Mac, who else would it be?

 

He kept... Doing this. Every week, without fail, his phone would buzz at least twice with hopeful messages. He could almost hear Macs voice; soft, vulnerable. Dumb. Could almost see his downturned puppy eyes, unable to hide any hurt in them.

 

"Is that-" Mandy would speak, soft. Questioning as she glanced over at the phone. Dennis shook his head, reaching over to lock his phone with a painful click as he tucked it into his pocket.

 

"It's nothing."

 

It's nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> heyo!!! thanks for readin!! if you want me to continue drop a comment i guess? also gimme a lil follow on tumblr if u like ! my main is vampiire and my sunny sideblog is versdennis ! (fair warning tho i don't post much on the sunny blog ):  
> title name is from a little ditty by jack stauber called oh klahoma ! gud tune!


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